Fundamentally, a textbook and supporting multimedia should be grounded in our understanding of how students learn chemistry and should support instruction in and out of the classroom. Visualization, both at the macroscopic and the molecular levels, is important in learning and teaching chemistry. Teaching approaches that accommodate different learning styles have impacted student success and appreciation for chemistry. These approaches should also impact textbook development. Much research has indicated that a conceptual approach to instruction is critical to learning chemistry. Students can answer algorithmic questions much easier and with less knowledge than conceptual questions. One approach to developing a conceptual understanding of introductory chemistry involves using molecular-level images and animations of chemical phenomena to help students connect macroscopic phenomena and symbolic representations to molecular-level behavior. Such media can convey a tremendous amount of information, but can also cause misconceptions if poorly constructed or misused. We will discuss features of images designed to avoid possible misconceptions. We will also give examples of how we use molecular images to develop a conceptual understanding that enables students to apply chemical knowledge to problems with greater success.

Student engagement (in and out of the classroom) is an important element in content development. Inquiry built into the textbook lends itself to fostering an interactive classroom environment. We will discuss some examples of inquiry that promote student engagement in the classroom.